Devastating Garment Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Claims at Least 16 Fatalities
A minimum of 16 people have perished after a enormous fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the death toll could climb.
Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department stated.
Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in seeking their dear ones still not found.
The inferno, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, emergency services reported.
As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, media reports indicated.
Fire service officials have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.
Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when burned.
Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official informed journalists.
An probe on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he mentioned.
Crying family members stood outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.
Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.
"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my loved one back," he told news media.
The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a significant contributor to export earnings for the nation.
